“There’s no doubt inflation is high right now. It’s affecting Americans’ pocketbooks. It’s affecting their outlook,” Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “But it’s important that we put this in context. When the president took office, we were facing an all-out economic crisis.”

The United States is hardly alone in enduring a bout of stiff inflation, with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showing inflation running high across its 38 member countries and oil prices quadrupling in the last 18 months as economies reopened from COVID-19 shutdowns…

High inflation is eroding wage gains, adding to political risk for Biden, whose approval rating has been falling as Americans grow more anxious about the economy. Broadening inflationary pressures could also complicate the Federal Reserve’s communication. The Fed this month restated that high inflation is “expected to be transitory.”

“The problem is the Democrats are now saying we want to go all in with this massive tax and spending bill,” Republican Senator John Barrasso said on ABC’s “This Week.” “People are going to pay higher prices.”